Lineup: Revocation/Exhumed/Rivers of Nihil/Yaujta
Venue: Brighton Music Hall, Allston, MA
Yaujta: Arrived during their last song, so I didn't see enough of their set to have an opinion on them.
Rivers of Nihil: This set was eerily reminiscent of another instance where I saw a progressive/technical death metal band that I'm enamored with (Fallujah) for the first time. The instrumentation was flawless and much of the beautiful, immersive atmosphere of their studio material seamlessly translated to the live setting, but an erratic vocal mix that consistently went in and out prevented them from delivering a performance that lived up to the quality of their records. Since Where Owls Know My Name just came out in March, they should hit the road again soon and I'll keep my fingers crossed that these technical difficulties don't make another unwanted appearance the next time I see them.
Exhumed: Old school death metal has a special place in my heart and while Exhumed has never been a band I've been super into, their full-on, loving embrace of Alice Cooper-esque cornball horror antics makes them a lot of fun to see. I mean these guys have a dude dressed as a surgeon come out with a chainsaw, prop heads and a guitar that shoots sparks to pump the crowd up throughout. What's not to love? In addition to these hilarious schlocky gimmicks, San Jose's most prominent musical export since The Doobie Brothers have an abundance of sick, manic riffs and a visible sense of enthusiasm for their craft that very few bands that came up in that era (early-to-mid 90's) still possess. Bless these gore fiends and may they never lose their zest for delivering gloriously cheesy extreme metal to the masses.
Revocation: Out of the MANY times I've seen them, this is undoubtedly in contention for the best performance I've ever seen from Revocation. Boston's own extreme metal juggernaut are about as consistently precise as they come from a musical standpoint (this show was no exception), so the special quality of this set can entirely be attributed to the setlist selections. The repetition that tends to define their setlists, particularly the cuts from their earlier records, is typically the only issue I have with their live performances. It's almost like they read my petty nitpicky, fanboy mind when they were assembling the set for this tour because there's absolutely no complaints I can levy upon it. With the exception of staples "Madness Opus" and "Witch Trials", every older song they played ("The Blackest Reaches", "Existence is Futile", "Chaos of Forms") was a favorite of mine that I'd never heard them play live before. Of course, this diversity was further bolstered by having material from a brand new record (The Outer Ones-which is yet another spastic, incredibly heavy victory lap for them) to pull from, but I'm going to give them more kudos for them digging deep into their discography and dusting off some of their most elite tracks. Personal enjoyment of the songs being played tends to correlate with how much you enjoy yourself at a concert and Revocation did more than enough to ensure that I had an even better time than I usually do at their shows.
Grades:
Rivers of Nihil: B+
Exhumed: B+
Revocation: A
Setlists:
Rivers of Nihil:
The Silent Life
Monarchy
Death is Real
A Home
Soil & Seed
Exhumed:
In My Human Slaughterhouse
Limb from Limb
Necrocracy
Night Work
Torso
Slaughtercult
Guitar Solo
Forged in Fire (Formed in Flame)
Waxwork
Death Revenge
Deadest of the Dead
The Boys are Back in Town (Thin Lizzy cover)
Open the Abscess
Revocation:
The Outer Ones
Of Unworldly Origin
Madness Opus
Blood Atonement
Communion
The Blackest Reaches
Ex Nihilo
Existence is Futile
Chaos of Forms
Only the Spineless Survive
Witch Trials
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